Darren Seals, Ferguson Protester and Activist, Was Found Dead In Burning Car

RIP, Darren Seals.

Ferguson protestor and social activist Darren Seals has been found dead inside a burning car. He was 29.

According to StlAmerican.com, he was found dead early Tuesday morning in North St. Louis County. Investigators say he was also a victim of gunshot wounds before unknown perpetrators placed him in a car and set it on fire.

Seals made headlines during the nationwide unrest stemming from the unmerciful shooting of Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson.

Seals was extremely vocal about issues surrounding Brown’s death and the St. Louis region. He was featured in national news outlets such as The Washington Post and Al Jazeera.

Seals recently uploaded a Facebook Live video sharing his own encounter with the Ferguson Police Department, saying police drew guns on him and his younger brother. Seals described himself on his Twitter profile as a “Businessman, Revolutionary, Activist, Unapologetically BLACK, Afrikan in AmeriKKKa, Fighter, Leader.”

TheRoot.com reports that Seals’ death comes 22 months after the murder of another young, black protestor linked to the mass rebellion that unfolded in Baltimore in 2014, DeAndre Joshua. Joshua met his end in a manner similar to Seals — he was shot and placed inside a burning vehicle. No arrests were made.

Since the news broke, activists and others taken to social media to mourn and express their sorrow, or speculate on what may have happened.

R.I.P. King D Seals, Darren @KingDSeals one of the day one #Ferguson protesters. The children will miss you.

Antwan is an educator, cultural critic, actor, and writer for Wear Your Voice Mag (WYV), where he focuses on the dynamics of class, race, gender, politics, and pop culture. Prior to joining the team at WYV, he was an adjunct professor in the African American Studies Department at Valdosta State University in southern Georgia, where he taught African American Literature. He has traveled the U.S. and U.K. showcasing a fifty-five minute, one-person play titled Whitewash, which focuses on the state of black men in the post-civil rights era. Antwan received his B.A. in English and Literature from California State University, Dominguez Hills, and M.A. in African American Studies from University of California, Los Angeles. He is a Ronald E. McNair Scholar and NAACP theater nominee.